Buttercream roses
by Laet-lyre
Summary: "Kageyama froze and stared at him in disbelief. "Did you just lick my elbow?"/ "No! I was cleaning the cream off your elbow" he said, as if it were a perfectly acceptable explanation./ "With your tongue."/ "Uh…" he raised his hands, still holding the cutlery daubed in cream. "I didn't have much choice?""


**I wrote half of this, I kid you not, while running a temperature. It was past midnight, and while I was waiting for medication to kick in this weird scene started to play in my head. So, of course, I grabbed a notebook and started to scribble it. Just to make sure I wouldn't forget in the morning (which is what usually happens). In English (I'm Spanish but, for some reason, I often end up thinking in English; I'm weird like that). So let's see how this turns out. Happy KageHina day!**

* * *

Second year was the year of discoveries, apparently. Kageyama and Hinata had been seeing each other's faces almost daily for over than twelve months, but it was now that Hinata started to notice how blue Kageyama's eyes were, the length of his eyelashes or the way his muscles flexed when he served. He attributed it to the fact that, in order to deal with the setter's demonic temper, his mind had decided to start picking on his friend's most pleasant… traits.

Yeah, that had to be it.

It was nothing life-changing, really —he could admit when a guy was good looking, and there was nothing wrong about that. Yes, that was all. They still bickered and competed and trained like crazy and struggled through tests. So what if Kageyama had a pretty face, broad shoulders and a velvety voice —whenever he wasn't grumbling and shouting, at least.

"…What do you think?"

Hinata blinked at the shirt in his hands —was he supposed to put it on or throw it into his bag?— and absolutely _not_ paying attention to Kageyama changing his clothes in the limits of his peripheral vision.

"Hinata?"

Things started to get a little difficult, 'though. The tall setter was still a mess when it came to socializing, but he tried harder than ever now the team had two new setters in training. It was almost endearing how he froze in place at their praise and then stuttered whatever excuse, not knowing what to do with himself. He also smiled more, and it was nothing like the grimace that gave them nightmares. More like a soft upturn of lips that eased the tension and did weird things with Hinata's heart.

"Hey, Shrimp."

Hinata finally snapped out of his reverie and turned to Tsukishima with a frown. The blond had a slight smirk he couldn't quite decipher, but he knew he didn't like it.

"What?" he asked, defensive.

"We were doing plans for Yachi's birthday?" Yamaguchi intervened. "I thought about getting her a new pencil set."

"Sounds good" the redhead nodded. "What about a cake?"

"I could bake one" Kageyama uttered as he zipped his jacket.

"That would be…" Hinata blinked, registering the words. "Wait, what!?"

The raven haired looked at his three teammates, who in return stared at him as if he had grown a second head.

"…What?" he cautiously asked, not liking the scrutiny one bit.

"You… bake?"

"Yeah?"

Silence stretched for a few seconds. Even Tsukishima seemed at a loss of words. _'Maybe it will snow in summer, huh?'_

"S-so" Yamaguchi cleared his throat. "You think you can make it for this Sunday?"

"Sure" the setter shrugged, nonchalant. "I can make it the night before. We have to choose a flavor, 'though."

"What does she like?" Tsukishima asked at no one in particular.

"Um…" The setter scratched his nape, pensive. He looked at Hinata for help.

"_Fugashi_, I think" ventured the short middle blocker. He wasn't sure that could be helpful, but the raven haired hummed. "I… Do you want help?" he offered out of the blue.

And that was how Hinata found himself at Kageyama's kitchen the evening before Yachi's birthday, because there was no way he could miss that. Kageyama cooking. What was next, Tsukishima dancing ballet?

"You can start by washing the berries while I prepare the dough." The setter gestured towards a bowl filled with different fruits. "No eating them" he warned, stern, before Hinata could even grab the recipient.

The redhead squeaked, indignant.

"As if!"

The kitchen was furnished with appliances Hinata had merely seen on the cooking shows his mother liked. It made the process a lot easier. Kageyama guided him through the steps to obtain a syrup they would use to fill the cake.

"What are you doing?" he asked while waiting for the sauce to reduce. The setter had prepared two batches of dough and had poured one of them on a baking tray. "Won't that be too thin?"

"_Fugashi_ is twice baked batter covered in sugar. It's spongy and crunchy." He pouted as a drop of mass fell on the counter. "I'll try to make something similar to use as base."

"Oh."

He could only stare in amazement. If Kageyama was a god-like setter, his baking skills didn't lag behind. He was precise, calm and, foremost, delicate. He handled the cake with utmost care and Hinata found he couldn't take his eyes off him. Once the cake was baked and cooling, Kageyama proceeded to work on a mixture of butter, sugar, milk and a tad of berry syrup.

"Icing" the setter answered to his non-formulated question. Hinata nodded, not completely sure he knew what that meant, but not wanting to voice his ignorance anyway. "Should we decorate it too?"

"That would be cool, but how?"

"Roses, maybe?"

"Like, the flowers?"

"No, dumbass." Hinata frowned. "Buttercream roses."

Hinata's eyes widened. He recalled having seen those on TV.

"You can do that!?"

"I… Well" Kageyama stammered, sheepish. "It's been a while, but I could try."

''_I could try' my ass'_ Hinata thought. He was plain amazing. After assembling the layers of the cake, Kageyama picked a pastry bag and a long stick topped in a small circular base. The raven haired twirled the stem and little by little built the petals on the top. _'What the heck- how are you that good at everything?'_

"Practice" Kageyama said.

Hinata gasped.

"D-did I…?"

"Yeah."

The redhead huffed and averted his eyes.

"It's just a stupid cake" he mumbled.

"Sure" his friend smirked, "but I can do it and you-" A splatter of buttercream on his cheek effectively cut him. Hinata grinned, spoon still in hand. "You" Kageyama growled, "are done for".

The middle blocker squealed as the other boy started after him. Hinata grabbed a spatula covered in cream and lunged it at Kageyama's face, but the setter covered his eyes with his forearm and retaliated.

"Ah!" Hinata flinched when the cold paste hit him.

He had half the mind to run away from the counter to avoid putting the cake in danger and rushed to the corridor with Kageyama in tow.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry_ I'msorry_!"

"Come back here!"

The quarrel ended with them panting and almost rolling down the staircase after having chased each other through the house.

"I… win…" Hinata breathed out.

"Whatever." Kageyama huffed. His heated glare was far less intimidating when he there was butter smeared across his skin and clothes, Hinata found out. "You clean."

"Hey! That's not fair."

"Sure, sure" he dismissed with a wave.

The setter started to walk back to the kitchen. Hinata followed, trying not to notice the width of his shoulders. He glanced at his arm instead, at a spot right under the rolled sleeve. And suddenly he was tasting sugar and berries.

Kageyama froze and stared at him in disbelief.

"Did you just lick my elbow?"

"No! I was cleaning the cream off your elbow" he said, as if it were a _perfectly acceptable_ explanation.

"With your tongue."

"Uh…" he raised his hands, still holding the cutlery daubed in cream. "I didn't have much choice?"

"Aha…" Kageyama blinked, somehow managing to compose a blank expression. He headed towards the counter without another word, presumably to finish decorating the abandoned cake.

Hinata followed him, still alert in case Kageyama might try a sneak attack, but his friend seemed focused in making a plethora of cream roses that would put an actual bouquet to shame. He merely spared a few glances at Hinata here and there. He was a setter, and they also had their rivalry going, so Kageyama absentmindedly appraising him wasn't an unusual occurrence.

That time, 'though, it felt different, and Hinata was starting to get self-conscious.

'_He's looking at my face'_ he realized.

Hinata scrunched up his nose. Kageyama analyzing his form was something he could deal with just fine, but having awkward, barely capable of visual contact Kageyama peering at him like that was unnerving.

"Do I have something on my face, Bakageyama?" he asked, more defensive than he intended.

"Actually, you do" Kageyama answered matter of factly.

"Huh?" he uttered, suspicions forgotten. "Where?" Hinata asked, rubbing a hand across his cheeks and forehead.

"No, there" Kageyama gestured vaguely. "Towards your mouth."

Hinata stretched his tongue and licked around his lips, but no luck.

"Agh, dammit, where is it?"

He was about to grumble at Kageyama's soft chuckle —it did not make his heart skip a beat, _nope_, not at all—, but stilled when Kageyama held his chin in one hand, tilting it slightly, and leaned closer. His tongue, big and soft, slid over his skin, next to the corner of his mouth. Hinata could, should have compared it to a muddy swamp monster tasting his prey. The warmth and wetness should have been disgusting.

But it wasn't.

Because the tongue left a tickling trail as it caressed his skin and he wasn't good enough of a liar to convince anyone that he hated it. Not even himself.

"Now, that's better" Kageyama declared. He looked at him for a second before releasing him and turning towards the counter, resuming his task.

Like it was nothing.

"Wh-what?" Hinata was at a loss. He touched his prickling skin. "Kageyama?"

"Yeah?"

"Y-you… licked my face?"

"Yup." Cero fucks given, it seemed.

"Was there cream on it?" he asked, cheeks turning a furious shade of red.

Kageyama stared at him, amusement gleaming in his eyes.

"Maybe."

Hinata watched him work for a few seconds.

And then. He. Lost it.

"WHAAAAAT-!?"

-.-.-

"You know, if you wanted to kiss me you could have asked" Hinata mused. "No need to go around licking faces, Weirdyama."

"I'm weird?" Kageyama exclaimed. "You licked my elbow. What kind of weird-ass fetish is that?"

"I-it's _not_ a fetish" he stammered. "I _told_ you. I was licking the cream."

"Uh-huh. Keep telling yourself that."

Hinata pouted.

"So… do you _not_ want to kiss me?"

He was rewarded with the rare sight of a flushing Kageyama, but he couldn't relish his small victory as deep blue eyes locked with his, somehow taking his breath away.

"…Pretty sure I didn't say that."

-.-.-

The cake looked amazing on the table. So much that Yachi cried over it and had to ask someone else to cut it. Even Tsukishima was rendered speechless. An impressive achievement, truly.

'_But not the greatest one'_ Hinata thought squeezing Kageyama's hand in his.


End file.
